Briton arrested for paedophilia in Cabodia

Police in Cambodia have arrested a Briton for allegedly having sex with a 12-year-old local girl, officials said today.

Derek Baston, 69, of Lichfield, Staffs, was arrested on Sunday in Svay Pak, a suburb of Phnom Penh known for its prostitutes, police Lieutenant Colonel Pol Phithey said.

Acting on a tip-off, police raided a brothel where they found Mr Baston and the girl, who he had allegedly paid £3.20 (€5.10) for oral sex, Pol Phithey said.

Mr Baston will be charged with paedophilia in court tomorrow, he said.

Sex with children under the age of 15 is illegal in Cambodia and punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

But a corrupt police force and a weak judiciary have made the impoverished Southeast Asian country increasingly popular with visiting paedophiles, who are rarely prosecuted.

Two weeks ago, an Italian, Alain Fillipe Berutti, 29, was jailed for 10 years by a Cambodian court for having sex with four 14-year-old local boys.

In 1995, a convicted British paedophile served less than a year in prison. A British school teacher is in the middle of a three year sentence after being caught video-taping young girls in 2000.